Leather-embossing machine.



T. J. EDWARDS.

LEATHER EMBOSSING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.8,1912.

1,129,568. Patented Feb. .23, 1915.

Wafnesses: Inventor.-

THE NORRIS PETERS co PHOTO'LITHQ. WASHINGTON u c lUNfTED TATE PATENT @FFKQE.

THOMAS J. EDWARDS, OF MELROSE, MASSACHUSETTS.

LEATHERFEMBOSSING MACHIN E.

Application filed August 8, 1912.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. EDWARDS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Melrose, in the county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Leather- Embossing Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The invention has for its general object to provide an improved machine more especially adapted for use in embossing or rinting top facings of shoes after the latter have been completed or substantially completed.

A special object thereof is to improve the construction of embossing machines.

The invention provides for convenient presentation of the top portion of the upper of a shoe, and the facing thereon, to the machine parts or members by means of which the embossing or printing is efiected. To this end, the machine is so designed as to permit the portion of the upper to which the top facing is attached, and the said top facing, to be entered by an upward movement from below between the embossing or printing members or parts, and presented'to the said members or parts in a vertical or substantially vertical position, with the remain der of the shoe hanging pendant. This enables the side-portion of the upper opposite that on which the impression is to be made to be kept clear of the embossing or printing parts or members, out of the way of the latter, obviating tendency of the said opposite side-portion to get in the way or accidentally enter between the said parts or members. It also enables the operator to see without obstruction the dies and the position with reference thereto of the portion of the shoe which he is introducing or has introduced between them.

So far as I am aware, there is no machine in actual use employed for embossing or printing the top facings of madeeup shoes, and the embossing or printing of top facings is effected prior to attaching the latter to the shoe uppers. Consequently when a manufacturer or jobber fills orders for quick shipment from made-up stock it is not possible to furnish shoes bearing on their top 'facings the name or other special imprint or mark of a given retailer. In the retail trade it is considered of special importance to have the name or other special mark or Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. as, 1915.

Serial N o. 714,( )23.

imprint of the retailer upon the shoes that are handled by him. My improved machine renders it possible to meet this want or need by enabling the top facings of the uppers of made-up shoes kept in stock to be embossed or printed upon receipt of an order and immediately shipped without delay.

A; machine embodying the invention is equally adaptedfor the embossing or printing of top facings before they have been attached, and other articles and materials.

One form of machine embodying my invention is shown in the drawings in which latter,-

Figure 1 shows in side elevation the said form of machine. Fig. 2 is a plan vlew thereof. Fig. 3 is a view in section on line 5, 3, of Fig. 1, looking in the directions indicated by the arrows at the ends of such line, showing a portion of the machine base, the supporting rocker for the movable backing which cooperates with the die, and the bar of the said backing.

Having reference to the drawingsf-the 'machine base is marked 1, and 2 is a yokeshaped head whichis attached to the said base, the yoke projecting forward and the forwardly projecting part serving to support one of the embossing or printing members, in this instance the die 3, Fig. 1, the said die being thereby supported in advance of the front end of the base so that there is a clear space below the die to permit of free and unobstructed disposal of the shoe which is being operated upon below the embossing or printing parts or members. The acting face of the die is vertically disposed, in this instance, so that the portion of the stock which is presented against the same will occupy a vertical position, although it may be inclined more or less without loss of the advantages of the main invention, or departure from the invention. The die is conveniently supported at the underside of and below the forwardly projecting part of the yoke, the mounting or supports l, 5, for the same being shaped and proportioned as shown so that the top portion of the upper of the shoe may be drawn up around the same with the side-portion thereof bearing the portion of the top facing which is to receive the impression raised alongside the acting face of the die, at the rear of such face. Usually, the opposite side-portions of the upper will be held down by the operator out of the way at the front of the said mounting of supports, so as not to obscure the view of the die and of the portion of the shoe which is applied in connection with the die. The other part or member of the embossing or printing devices, in this instance the backing 6, is located adjacent the die. In this embodiment of the invention the die 3 has a fixed or stationary mounting, and the backing 6 is movably mounted and has combined with the same means for causing it to approach the die and recede therefrom. The movement of the said backing is derived from an eccentric 7 on an actuating shaft 8 which is journaled in bearings 9, 9, in the rear part of the machine base. In practice, the said shaft will have combined with it start-and-stop devices of any of the kinds in use, whereby at the will of the operator the shaft will be rotated to cause the eccentric to actuate the backing for an impression, and then at the conclusion of a rotation of the shaft the latter will come to rest with the parts or members of the embossing or printing devices separated for the removal of the stock that is being operated upon and the subsequent insertion of thestocl; next to be operated upon.

It will be observed that the location of the die and backing in advance of the fixed or stationary parts of the machine, and with an unobstructed space below them, permits the shoe to be held in position at the front of the machine with one side-portion of the top of the upper passed upward between the die and backing and with the remainder of the shoe hanging freely below the die and backing, the opposite side-portion of the upper being forward out of the way so that it neither gets caught between the die and backing, nor obscures the view of the latter or of the portion of the shoe which is between the die and backing. No portion of the shoe is liable to get in the way of the working parts of the machine;

For embossing purposes the die requires to be heated. I have shown the machine equipped with an electrical heater 4 the casing or body of which occupies a vertical opening in the forwardly-projecting yoke and is secured in place by screws 10, 10, en gaging with upper and lower extensions of the said body or casing and with upwardly and downwardly projecting portions 11 and 5 of the yoke, a sheet or layer 12 of asbestos being interposed between the adjacent surfaces of the heater and the yoke to prevent undue loss of heat by conduction to the metal of the yoke. The die 3 is formed with a dove-tailed rib 3*, Fig. 1, entering a dovetailed way on the back of the heater between a lip formed on the lower end of the heater and the lower edge of a plate or gib 13 that is held to the said back by screws 14:, 14. Slots in the said plate or gib permit vertical adjustment of the latter by means of adj usting screw 15 to cause the die to be properly held removably in place. The backing 6 is formed or provided on the front end of a bar 16 having an intermediate hub-like portion l6 with flattened sides and a cylindrical rearward portion. The said hub-like portion 16 fits between corresponding por tions 17 17 on a supporting radius-bar or rocker 17, the bar 16 being connected pivotally with the said radius-bar or rocker by means of a pin 18 which extends through all three hub-like portions. The radius-bar or rocker is mounted pivotally in the base 1 upon a supporting pin 19, and is adapted to rock in the direction from front to rear. The cylindrical rear portion of the bar enters a cylindrical socket 20 formed or provided in connection with the eccentric-strap 20 which fits the eccentric 7 on the actuating shaft.

In order to provide for a prolonged compression of the stock between the backing and die, I interpose an expanding spiral spring 21 between the eccentric-strap and the bar 16 carrying the backing. In this particular instance the said spring occupies a socket 20 in continuation of the larger socket 20 containing the cylindrical portion of the bar 16, and is confined between the rear end of the bar and the closed inner end of the said socket 20". As the eccentric moves the strap in the direction toward the die this spring is compressed, its pressure being transmitted to the bar and backing and such pressure is maintained by the tension of the spring in the receding movement of the strap, and acts to hold the backing forward so as to maintain the compression of the stock, until the said tension is completely relaxed by the rearward movement of the eccentric strap, then permitting the backing to separate from the die sufficiently to permit of the removal of the stock. In order that the eccentric strap, in the last portion of its receding movement, may operate to draw the backing rearward a transverse pin 22 is provided in connection with. the socketed portion of the eccentric strap, the intermediate portion of this pin working in an elongated slot 28 in the bar. This slot permits relative movement to take place between the socket and the bar as the spring yields in being compressed and when it subsequently expands, while in the final portion of the rearward movement of the eccentric strap the engagement of the pin with the rear end-wall of the slot in the bar operates to draw the bar and the backing back positively during such portion of the said movement.

Provision is made for adjustment of the die-support or mounting with reference to the stroke of the backing, for the proper regulation of the pressure to which the stock is subjected between the backing and the die.

In the present instance this adjustment is provided for by means of elongated slots 24, 24, in the flanges of the side-portions of the yoke, such slots receiving the stems of the screws 25, 25, by which the yoke is clamped upon the machine base, and the elongation of the slots permitting the yoke to be'shifted as may be required, and to the desired extent, in the direction from front to rear.

I claim as my invention 1. A machine for embossing or printing top-facings of shoes, etc., comprising, in combination, an embossing or printing die and a cooperating backing closing together by a transverse movement with their working faces in upright position, means for closing and opening them, and a forwardlyextending support for one of said parts or members, said machine having an unobstructed space below and in front of the die and backing permitting a portion of a shoeupper and its top-facing to be inserted upward from below between such parts or members and allowing the shoe to hang in upright position directly down below the die and backing.

2. A machine for embossing or printing top-facings of shoes, etc., comprising, in combination, an embossing or printing die and a cooperating backing closing together with their working faces in upright position by a transverse movement horizontally, a heater to which one of said parts is attached, and supporting and operating means for said parts constructed and arranged to provide an unobstructed open space below the Copies of this patent may be obtained for die and backing adapted to permit a portion of a shoe-upper and its top facing to be inserted upward from below between the die and backing and to allow the shoe to hang in upright position directlyvdown below the die and backing.

8. A machine for embossing or printing top-facings of shoes, etc., comprising, in combination, an embossing or printing die and a cooperating backing closing together by a transverse movement, a support for one of such parts, a bar carrying the other thereof, an operating eccentric with which one end of said bar is connected, and by which said end is supported, and a radius-bar or rocker supporting the bar intermediate the eccentric and the said part carried thereby.

-i. A machine for embossing or printing top-facings of shoes, etc., comprising, in combination, an embossing or printing die and a cooperating backing closing together by a transverse movement, a support for one of such parts, a bar carrying the other thereof, a rocker constituting a pivotal mounting for said bar, an eccentric-strap with which the said bar has a socket-connection, a spring interposed between said bar and eccentric-strap, and an actuating eccentric.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHAS. F. RANDALL, NATHAN B; DAY.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0'. 

